Improvement in adjustable triggers for fire-arms



5 7 8 .I .Il 3 g u A Ju 8 .l n e a DI HENRY WATKEYS, OF 'SYRAGUSFH NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN ADJUSTABLE TRIGGE'RS FOR FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 167,285,

dated August 3l, 1875; application filed July 12, 1875.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY WATKEYS, of thecity of Syracuse,in the State of New York, have invented anew and useful Improvement in lGun-Locks, which I style an adjustable tri gger, 7 of which the following specification, with its accompanying drawing', is a full, clear, and

exact description At trap-shootin g with the double-barrel shotgun it often happens, from excitement, that a sportsman pulls the wrong trigger. In singlebird shooting it is barrel loaded at a time. With the present arrangement ot' triggers it would be more natural to load the right barrel than the left barrel for continuous shots, because, as the rig-htbarrel trigger is in front of the left-barrel trigger, the front trigger is more conveniently operated, and, when excitement prevails, a sportsman is almost always sure to pull the front trigger, for in an excitement he only feels for a trigger, all unconscious of .the trigger he is about to pull. Therefore, for safetys sake, he only loads the right barrel.

lnl double-bird shooting, and in ordinary field-shooting, where both barrels are loaded, for the reason just given, it is perfectly natural and proper to first disehargethe right barrel, thus making it a habit always to pull the front trigger. Again, as the barrels are bored so that the left one will shoot a much farther distance than the right barrel, if a strong windpermissible to have only one comes up a shooter will need to change barrels. y

Now, in such'a case he wants the front trigger out of his way, so that he cannot make a mistake by pulling the wrong trigger.

Guns are made with the stock of a speciiied length; but it will readily occur to any one that different persons require a dierent length of stock, although gun-stocks will not vary in length more than about from one-fourth to oneh alfinch. It is very convenientto have a gun the stock of which can belengthened orshortened to suit different persons, because, although it is not arbitrary, still, from natural choice, men hold guns differently. Therefore some practical means to do this quickly and at slight cost will much increase its value. The object of my invention, therefore, is to prevent a person from pulling the wrong trigger; also, more .sitions of the triggers.

conveniently to adjust the length of stock to the person.\

My invention consists in changing, and also in regulating, the positions ofthe triggers in a line with the guard, by pivoting the trigger to its blade with a screw which allows the trigger to be turned up out ofthe way of the finger, and, moreover, to be regulated for making the length of the stock convenient to the shooter by means of a trigger-spring that fits into vertical notches upon the triggerblade.

In the drawings, Figure I is a side elevation of part of a gun, showing the lock and a part of the barrel and stock; also different po- Fig. II is a detached view of an adjustable front trigger, showing the spring and-catches for throwing it in different positions. Fig. III is an end elevation of Fig. II, and Fig. IV is a detached view of a trigger-blade.

The barrel A and stock B are of common construction, and the whole invention may be seen at a glance simplyby an inspection of Figs. I and Il of the drawings. Both triggers are made just alike. l indicates the position of the front trigger in the middle of the guard, for ordinary field shooting, or. double bird shooting at the trap 5 2, its position when turned up out of the way of the fingers, so that no mistake can occur by pulling this trigger whenit is desired to re the left barrel. 3 represents its position for firing the right barrel when set back for accommodating a short hand, and to take the fingers away from the guard, so that they shall not get bruised by a recoil of the gun; also, to prevent any confusionthat is, to keep the finger off of the left trigger when firing only the right barrel, because the front one is set back so far that it acts as a guard to the left one by leaving such a small space that the linger cannot be gotten between the triggers. 4 shows the left-barrel trigger set back in its ordinary position, though it can be brought forward to occupy about the position shown by the numeral 3. 5 is the spring for holding the trigger in the position already described; and 6 and 7 are vertical notches upon the rear ofthe trigger blade 9, in which the spring rests after the trigger is set in the desired position. 8 is the screw for fastening the sections ofthe triggers together, and which also serves as a pivot or hinge for the triggers to turn upon.

It will thus be seen that the forward and backward movement which I gain for the triggers of from one-fourth to one-half inch is all the distance required, practically, to effect a change in the length of stock,so as to suit the different build of men, or the more easily to accommodate the stock to the person when the operator has removed his coat, in which case he would naturally desire to lengthen the stock.

As a modification of this invention I could put a brace between the triggers, thus connecting them, so that by pulling on the front trigger I could shoot the left barrel, and by taking off the brace or connection, I could fire the right barrel 5 or I could have the front trigger turn on a hinge laterally, or at right angles to a line with the guard, so as to get it out of the Way when shooting the left barrel. But this arrangement would not admit of an adjustment of the trigger, whereby I regulate the length of stock, and gain aconvenient position for the hand While shooting, and protecting the hand from injury. The brace, also, might get lost; and, besides, it would rake more power to pull two triggers at once than it does to pnll\one.

Having now fully described the construction and operation of my invention, what I broadly claim isl. An adjustable trigger for fire-arms, so arranged as practically to regulatev the length of A 

